Cardiff City will be looking to move back into the top-six in the Championship with a positive result, when they return to action this weekend. 

The Bluebirds have shown much-needed improvement since Mick McCarthy took charge of the club on a permanent basis, and they now find themselves sat eighth in the second-tier standings, and just four points adrift of sixth-placed Barnsley.

It won't be an easy game by any stretch of the imagination this weekend though, as they prepare to take on promotion-chasing Watford.

The Hornets occupy second place in the Championship, after winning six of their last seven matches in all competitions, which has seen them move ahead of the likes of Brentford and Swansea City in recent weeks.

Sky Sports' EFL pundit David Prutton has issued his thoughts ahead of the clash at the Cardiff City Stadium, and predicted that the two teams won't be separated in a 2-2 draw on Saturday.

"This is a big game, too! Cardiff is not a place anyone will want to visit at the minute, even a side on as good a run at Watford. It is 11 unbeaten since Mick McCarthy's arrival now.

"Watford start the weekend in second, we don't know if they will be there by Saturday, but you still don't think a draw in this one would be too bad a result. Score draw."

A win for Cardiff would see them keep up the pressure on their play-off chasing rivals in the Championship, whilst Watford will be eager to pull clear in the race to finish in the automatic promotion places.

The Verdict: 

It's going to be a closely-fought battle between the two teams.

I've been really impressed with Cardiff City since Mick McCarthy took charge of the club, and they're one of the form teams in the Championship at this moment in time.

Watford have been brilliant in recent weeks, and I think they'll have enough quality in their team to edge out the Bluebirds on Saturday.

I'm going to go with a 2-1 win for Xisco Munoz's side, as I can see the likes of Joao Pedro and Ismaila Sarr causing Cardiff a number of problems.